Advice on NI200 build needed.

[Raindance]

Hi all.

I have been building with mainly SS316L and Kanthal A1 since starting rebuilding coils. I wish to expand my coil building to NI200 as this material has a really nice well defined temperature curve witch in theory should enhance the TC accuracy of my mods. Also seems the DNA mods have a preference for this material.

However, my browsing on the topic of using this as a resistance wire highlighted two issues:
1. Overheating this wire is a potential danger, the words "Nickel Poisoning" were mentioned, and
2. Due to the above one can not pulse this material to check for hot spots etc.

How does one avoid overheating this material and how serious are the health risks and secondly, not being able to pulse it like SS or Kanthal, how does one ensure a well performing evenly heating coil.

I have inhaled enough damaging substances over the years, so I would rather play it safe.

Thanks, Regards

 

[blujeenz]

Hi all.

I have been building with mainly SS316L and Kanthal A1 since starting rebuilding coils. I wish to expand my coil building to NI200 as this material has a really nice well defined temperature curve witch in theory should enhance the TC accuracy of my mods. Also seems the DNA mods have a preference for this material.

However, my browsing on the topic of using this as a resistance wire highlighted two issues:
1. Overheating this wire is a potential danger, the words "Nickel Poisoning" were mentioned, and
2. Due to the above one can not pulse this material to check for hot spots etc.

How does one avoid overheating this material and how serious are the health risks and secondly, not being able to pulse it like SS or Kanthal, how does one ensure a well performing evenly heating coil.

I have inhaled enough damaging substances over the years, so I would rather play it safe.

Thanks, Regards

Spaced coils is the only answer.

 

[Kuhlkatz]

@Raindance, unlike Kanthal, SS & Nichrome that you can tightly wind and then strum to 'let loose', Nickel is very conductive and would not work properly if you do not use it as a spaced coil. You cannot heat it up to form an insulating layer of oxidation between windings like the other wire types.
If you do use it, just wind a spaced coil. It is also fairly soft compared to the other types, so check that the windings are not touching after you have pulled through the wicking material. Adjust it with a needle, pin or other sharp object if it does, and then tuck the wicks where they belong.
I normally dry-burn it in TC mode at about 220-240 deg C before wicking, but just to clean off the oils transferred from my hands and to kill other cooties that may have found their way onto the coil.

Other than that, it's fairly straightforward to use and not markedly different than any of the other coils.

 

[Yiannaki]

Hi all.

I have been building with mainly SS316L and Kanthal A1 since starting rebuilding coils. I wish to expand my coil building to NI200 as this material has a really nice well defined temperature curve witch in theory should enhance the TC accuracy of my mods. Also seems the DNA mods have a preference for this material.

However, my browsing on the topic of using this as a resistance wire highlighted two issues:
1. Overheating this wire is a potential danger, the words "Nickel Poisoning" were mentioned, and
2. Due to the above one can not pulse this material to check for hot spots etc.

How does one avoid overheating this material and how serious are the health risks and secondly, not being able to pulse it like SS or Kanthal, how does one ensure a well performing evenly heating coil.

I have inhaled enough damaging substances over the years, so I would rather play it safe.

Thanks, Regards

Ni200 works really well for TC and you're right, it seems optimised for use in DNA mods.

Here are some pointers to working with Ni200.

1. It works best with single coil. - ni200 has a really low resistance and running duals will result in you having to use a ton of wraps.

2. 26g Ni200 is the best. - ni200 is a very soft wire and in the past I found the 28g leads were easily snapped by post screws.

Also, because the 28 is so thin, the coils tend to deform very easily when wicking, as the wick needs to sit tightly inside the coils.

26g is less prone to being clipped by posts and is a little more sturdy when wicking.

3. I'm sure you're aware of this, but just to reiterate - don't fire Ni200 in power mode.

4. Always wrap spaced coils. Compressed coils never regulate temperature as well as they do when spaced.

There are two tricks to wrapping ni200 perfectly.

A. Create your wraps on the mandrel fairly wide apart. Then push the coil up against the back side of the mandrel to 'compress' it in a sense. The wraps even out and you get a perfectly spaced coil.

B. Parallel wrap two strands of wire and then remove the one strand. That will also leave you with a perfectly spaced coil. Only down side is wasted wire.


5. With regards to hot spots. - Once I install the coil, I put it to a fairly high temperature. I.E 280 degrees Celsius.

I 'dry' burn the wick less coil at this temperature. You'll notice a little puff of smoke come off the coil.

I take my ceramic tweezers and strum the coil a little and then fire again. I repeat the process several times.

Obviously one won't see hot spots but I feel this process does help.

6. When wicking, try and pack the wick tightly through the coil. (Without deforming of course)

Depending on the atomiser used, you could grab a hold of the coil with your one hand while threading through the wick to prevent it from deforming.

7. With regards to builds. I found this to work the best. 26g. 2.5mm ID. 9/10 wraps. It should bring you to around 0.08/0.09

8. The one downside to not being able to dry burn like you would a kanthal coil once the coil is gunked, means that you will have to rebuild.

I did on several occasions soak the coil in warm water and used a earbud to clean off gunk.

9. I find the regular softer ni200 to work better than the tempered one. The latter was far too springy for me and I could never get a perfectly spaced coil with it.

10. I can't comment on the health aspect but I can tell you I vaped ni200 exclusively for 7-8 months and never felt a thing. I did of course ensure I was never vaping on wire that glowed.

Hope this was of help

Sent from my SM-N920C using Tapatalk

 

[PsyCLown]

TL;DR

Ni200 has to be used in TC and not wattage mode due to the health hazards.
Once again you cannot check for hot spots as it heats up the metal too much, therefore you need to create spaced coils.

The way I create spaced coils is I wind a normal coil, then pull it apart, then compress it again and I end up with very nice and neat spaced coils.
I saw Daniel from DJLSB vapes do it and it works, very well.

Personally I did not enjoy Titanium and Ni200.

 

[Raindance]

Thanks @blujeenz , @Kuhlkatz , @Yiannaki and @PsyCLown. I will put that info to work later tonight.

Regards

 

[Raindance]

D = 2.5mm, 28AWG NI200, 10.5 turns, 0.14 Ohm, Spaced (Wound, stretched and compressed), Rayon wick twisted in and expanded. Running at 25W TC 220 degrees. Mild preheat at 75W. Still standing so I guess its safe! Lol.
Very nice build deck on the Fuli Son GTA. It has little slots on the sides of the "Pie slice" part of the mounts that hold your wire while fastening also aligning the wire with the center of the grub screws and stopping it from sliding in or out. Makes for a really easy build.

Regards

 

[Silver]

Super @Raindance
Whats the vape like? And what juice are you vaping on it?

 

[PsyCLown]

D = 2.5mm, 28AWG NI200, 10.5 turns, 0.14 Ohm, Spaced (Wound, stretched and compressed), Rayon wick twisted in and expanded. Running at 25W TC 220 degrees. Mild preheat at 75W. Still standing so I guess its safe! Lol. View attachment 80619
Very nice build deck on the Fuli Son GTA. It has little slots on the sides of the "Pie slice" part of the mounts that hold your wire while fastening also aligning the wire with the center of the grub screws and stopping it from sliding in or out. Makes for a really easy build.

Regards

Coil looks great! How is the vape?

 

[Raindance]

Really smooth. I think a bit larger diameter would be advisable with this length of coil cos it runs a bit dry after three or so seconds. Love this VM litchi flavour as a break from my adv. Really pops in this atty! Will try a larger dia build tomorrow.

 

[Ezekiel]

Hey @Raindance. I think everyone here have said some amazing things in a super short time.

I would like to add one small thing though. You said you have a DNA mod? To be perfectly honest, with the newest updates for escribe, you can get equally good TC performance with stainless steel than with Ni.

I build Ni mostly for other, non-DNA mods, or as a temperature sensor in an exotic build. It really is a massive schlep to build with, although the vape is definitely interesting. I would recommend that you see if you can borrow a small length of Ni from a vendor or fellow vapour and see whether it is worth it before you buy a spool or two. Finally, you can build compact coils - there are n direct health risks associated with it. Ive found that, with compact Ni coils, the formed hotspots produce some severe (and heart-stopping) pops, but tends to last only for the first tankful or so. Still, better to avoid it I guess by building spaced, which is unfortunately so bloody difficult with Ni on the wrong deck.

Ti on the other hand, is fantastic to work with and is a better TC wire than SS. Twisted Ti is some of the best vapes I've ever had.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[Lord Vetinari]

Ni200 works really well for TC and you're right, it seems optimised for use in DNA mods.

Here are some pointers to working with Ni200.

1. It works best with single coil. - ni200 has a really low resistance and running duals will result in you having to use a ton of wraps.

2. 26g Ni200 is the best. - ni200 is a very soft wire and in the past I found the 28g leads were easily snapped by post screws.

Also, because the 28 is so thin, the coils tend to deform very easily when wicking, as the wick needs to sit tightly inside the coils.

26g is less prone to being clipped by posts and is a little more sturdy when wicking.

3. I'm sure you're aware of this, but just to reiterate - don't fire Ni200 in power mode.

4. Always wrap spaced coils. Compressed coils never regulate temperature as well as they do when spaced.

There are two tricks to wrapping ni200 perfectly.

A. Create your wraps on the mandrel fairly wide apart. Then push the coil up against the back side of the mandrel to 'compress' it in a sense. The wraps even out and you get a perfectly spaced coil.

B. Parallel wrap two strands of wire and then remove the one strand. That will also leave you with a perfectly spaced coil. Only down side is wasted wire.


5. With regards to hot spots. - Once I install the coil, I put it to a fairly high temperature. I.E 280 degrees Celsius.

I 'dry' burn the wick less coil at this temperature. You'll notice a little puff of smoke come off the coil.

I take my ceramic tweezers and strum the coil a little and then fire again. I repeat the process several times.

Obviously one won't see hot spots but I feel this process does help.

6. When wicking, try and pack the wick tightly through the coil. (Without deforming of course)

Depending on the atomiser used, you could grab a hold of the coil with your one hand while threading through the wick to prevent it from deforming.

7. With regards to builds. I found this to work the best. 26g. 2.5mm ID. 9/10 wraps. It should bring you to around 0.08/0.09

8. The one downside to not being able to dry burn like you would a kanthal coil once the coil is gunked, means that you will have to rebuild.

I did on several occasions soak the coil in warm water and used a earbud to clean off gunk.

9. I find the regular softer ni200 to work better than the tempered one. The latter was far too springy for me and I could never get a perfectly spaced coil with it.

10. I can't comment on the health aspect but I can tell you I vaped ni200 exclusively for 7-8 months and never felt a thing. I did of course ensure I was never vaping on wire that glowed.

Hope this was of help

Sent from my SM-N920C using Tapatalk

Informative and well written. I had a good read and learned a few new things.